Oh! That dress: When fashion gets political

Nudity over real fur, campaigns against size zero models and the catastrophic tragedy of blood diamonds- it would seem that fashion and politics are about as compatible as low- fat and fried chicken. However, due to big names, even bigger brands and a bucket load of controversy; fashion simply cannot escape the clutches of politics much like we mere mortals cannot escape the perils of the soon to be implemented- higher taxes.

Therefore Lady Gaga’s( ahem)  latest ensemble is no exception to the rule as she attended the VMAs in September in nothing short of bizarre, a dress made entirely of beef. Absolutely nobody can deny that on the night Miss Gaga was by far one of the ‘tastiest’ guests. Yes, a meat dress accompanied by a meat purse and a cute little meat hat, the dress was worn by Gaga as a statement against the US Military’s ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell policy’ a policy prohibiting the United States military from efforts to discover or reveal closeted gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members or applicants, while barring those who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual from military service.

So where does the dress figure?

The monster superstar responded to the hype, ‘ If we don’t stand up for what we believe in, and if we don’t stand up for our rights, pretty soon we’re going to have as much right as the meat on our bones.’

So was this the right way to make a statement or is it yet another negative mark against fashion?
The dress clearly hit a raw (and meaty) nerve with PETA’S President Ingrid Newkirk saying, ‘Lady Gaga’s job is to do outlandish things and this certainly qualifies as outlandish because mean is something you want to avoid putting on or in your body.  No matter how beautifully it is presented, flesh from a tortured animal is flesh from a tortured animal. Meat represents bloody violence and suffering, so if that’s the look they were going for, they achieved it.

Hence, apart from getting PETA’s knickers in a twist, here are 6 things that the Monster Machine achieved by wearing that dress...

1.    It got the world talking, fashion or otherwise. Hence the title of this post, a few damning blogs from PETA here and there and a mention or two on the Ellen Degeneres show and voila! Everybody wants to see the dress; it is social media at its best.
2.    It makes us question what exactly American voters actually voted for. Is it really a case of don’t ask don’t tell voters?
3.    It made us question just how forward thinking we the west actually are. The western world is forever promoting forwardness and regularly criticises those outside certain ideologies and yet this policy is still firmly in place.
4.    It reaffirmed fashion and politics’ stormy relationship. It proves that boundaries can be pushed, clothes CAN demonstrate a strong statement, whether it is religious, political or sexual for example.
5.    It allowed copy cats in on the act. Just check out the Stilton dress as modelled by Coronation Street actress Brooke Vincent, who plays schoolgirl Sophie Webster in the popular soap cheesy but pretty good.
6.    Lunch. With the combination of fashion and politics clearly here to stay, we now can eat a piece of fashion history as the meat dress is to be turned into a type of jerky as confirmed by original designer Franc Fernandez.  "The dress will go through a process where it becomes a sort of 'jerky' and will be archived; the meat dries out, rather than rotting. It becomes jerky but it shouldn't be worn again.’

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Food AND Fashion, now there’s an even stranger thought...

Fashion Forward: Making The Grade ( Part 2)

Celebrity in Focus: Rihanna

Like we said before we all need a little bit of help sometimes- even a celebrity or two especially when shopping online.  But imagine how we nearly choked on our afternoon peppermint tea when we were clicking around online attempting our online shopping and saw this sprawled across cyber space.

The hair we love, the dress? Ok we can let that slide; we don’t even mind the pick ‘n’ mix assortment of bangles, but the shoes and socks. THE SHOES AND SOCKS! Surely the beautiful Bajan hit maker has access to a computer, a Blackberry or even a mirror- never mind not shopping online, this girl clearly decided to shop without access to light!  She certainly needs to get an app for that and until she goes back to her usual snappy dressing self, staying at home and buying all her dresses online seems like a pretty good idea.

 It really is a case of good girl gone bad, the ill matching coordination, combined with the fact that the socks looks like they may have been suspiciously swindled from her grandfather’s sock draw  makes us feel quite sad (for her  grandfather as he’s probably looking for those socks now). As for those Dorothy looking ruby red shoes? We certainly wish three clicks at the ankle would make them disappear (or should that be of the mouse while she attempts to buy clothes online. If this were a test, we’d be writing ‘try harder’ all over Miss Sunshine’s script.

Fashion Grade: F

Is it just us or do you wish that Rhianna had a quick umbrella to hand, or do you love the experimental stage she’s going through?
If so we’d love to hear it

Fashion Forward: Making The Grade ( Part 1)

Fashion can in a certain way (although very loosely we admit) be compared to a pending exam. And just like exam revision, the internet is a very helpful aid in the process. Do you shop online for your clothes?

Everyone has their own approach. You get those that pass the majority of the time with flying colours. No we’re not jealous at all- even though we’ve come across their A Grade clothes online and can’t quite fathom out how they put together the perfect answers. Every. Single. Time. Not jealous though.

Then there are those that are usually just in the middle, style no better, no worse- just enough to get by. They pick out their dresses online, and then go in-store to find them to adopt a trial and error approach by trying them on, accessorizing, and hopefully getting it right more often than not.

And then there are some that just need a push in the right direction. Plucking the courage to buy a dress online is just a little bit scary and need some good, honest, well-honed fashion advice. Which of course explains why we are here, armed with our fabulous clothes and home ware shopping range.

Whichever way you look at it, we all need a little bit of help sometimes- even a celebrity or two.  So whether you’re a high street shopper, someone who likes to do their shopping online- or someone who likes a combination of the two- we at Leila are here to give you that help. We will be posting a regular revision guide of questionable outfits and wondering whether they make the grade. After all, it’s our job to keep all the ladies and gentlemen out there on the steady path to grade A fashion- regardless of whether you buy your clothes online or in person.

Celebrity in Focus:  Lenny Kravitz

Cue the numerous puns of his 1999 hit American Woman. Mr Kravtiz as reported by the Daily Mail was spotted in New York last month wearing what appears to be a man bag.  Not a big deal, however, to compliment his navy blue cowl neck jumper, it is accompanied by what we have to say is a very on trend statement piece-knee high wedged heels. Perhaps he is a man that enjoys a spot of online clothes shopping and partial to wearing girl’s clothing? Although our Lenny is absolutely gorgeous and could pull off a bin liner, we sort of wish he had made a trip to our local co-op and picked up a few as this look is just a little bit rubbish.  At the very least, he could have visited our shop online (we know you’re a bit busy to fly away to London at the moment Lenny!).  Online shopping in the UK is the way forward. We know you’re crazy for that lady Mr Kravitz, but concentrate on your own work in future.

Grade: D Minus

Do you love Lenny’s look and wished you knew someone that adventurous?
Or like us you’re not quite feeling his get up, we’d love to hear from you

Simple Fashion Tips of the Week: Jeans from casual to best dressed

When getting ready to go out there can be a mountain of things to do: the hair, the make-up and most importantly, the outfit.  Amongst all the twisting, teasing, plucking, plaiting and pampering, it can get all too complicated in our girls clothing, but there is one thing to remember; sometimes it’s best to keep it simple. All too often denim is overlooked when it comes finding a smart way to dress, just because it is touted as the casual staple, doesn’t mean that it has to BE casual. There are styles that range from straight leg to boot cut from Harem to wide leg it does not matter if you buy them at the local market or you shop online. Our only advice when attempting to buy clothes online (or anywhere else for that  matter)  is make sure they fit and that they are ironed well and are comfortable enough to be worn for a night on the town, darker denim is usually considered more appropriate for formal wear however, don’t let this restrict you especially if shopping online.

The Shirt

We have a saying here, the plainer the bottom half the jazzier the top. In other words, the shirt has to be dressy lots of lace, lots of frills and a stack load of silk. This is an especially good tip for pear- shaped beauties, as it draws attention away from the bottom half and up towards the neck, face and waist.  Make sure that the shirt or blouse you select fits with the event you are attending, team colours that go well with the jeans of your choice. If you are online shopping, try and look for a virtual wardrobe or even have a quick browse at your checkout list to see if the colours and style of clothing actually work together.

The trick is the more feminine your top, the less people will notice that your bottoms aren't. So whether you're wearing jeans or your running bottoms (hypothetically speaking), your blouse will sell your outfit and make it look like you're truly dressed for the occasion. As the weather gets colder, you can team your shirt of choice with a jacket that matches the colour scheme. It is usually best to match this with your shoes for top to toe balance; this can instantly take your casual clothing  from drab to fab as it will transform your mode of dress into one that is new, sexy and sophisticated.

From night out to preppy we’ve managed to achieve three different looks, see how easy it is? We’ve done our best to keep our tips simple to just two points, if you have any extra tips just post below we’d love to hear from you.

If you like the look of our tops check out the rest online here